Gnashi

The G'nashi are a secretive druidic tribe from Gorith. Around a third of the tribe are from the Mardakan family, making them a strong political force within the tribe; other than the largest family, there are five other families: the Komani, the Guni, the Kruitak, the Metival, and last but not least the Fardi.

Politics
The political landscape of the Gnashi's has grown fairly bland, without much opposition to speak of due to the power house that the Mardakan have always been within the tribe. Of the six families which make up the tribe, only three can be part of the "elder council" at a time; the family to whom the eldest member of the tribe belonged, the other two elder families were to be voted on by the remaining families, where they were not to vote for themselves. The votes are cast before the eldest is chosen, leading the family with the eldest to not be voted for as a rule of thumb; if the family of the eldest happens to also be in the most votes families the next in line takes their place, although in the eventuality of a tie the families who votes for them must revote. This system has persisted to this day, as the system of choice for the Gnashi.

Once the three elder families have been selected, each family must appoint three representatives to speak at the "elders quarrel".

The elders quarrel is simply a meeting of the nine representatives, where they must come to a conclusion about any matters raised by the tribe folk.

Another role, considered of higher esteem than that of being a representative, is that of the forest father. The forest father is, in simple terms, the intermediary between the elders and the other tribes, although he has never at liberty to divulge the existence of the tribe to any not already part of the tribe. The forest father's main goal has always been to protect the forests and its wildlife, often putting himself at great risk to do as such.

The elders are reselected at the same time as the forest father, which implies that the votes are only held upon the death of the forest father.

History
The Gnashi was first formed by the Mardakan, the Komani, and the Guni when the forests were being destroyed heavily by the other tribes of Gorith. The Gnashi always aim for a diplomatic end to all feuds with the other tribes, however that rarely happens, in large part due to the barbaric nature if the other tribes.

The Mardakan have always been part of the elder families, to the exception of the most recent cycle. A large part of their election was due to being the eldest family, although their being voted for is not uncommon either.

Within recent history, the Mardakan have been voted in for the past two cycles, but are not part of the elder families in the most recent cycle.

The current elder families are the Komani, the Guni, and the Fardi. The forest father is of the Fardi, the newest addition to the tribe,making it their first foray into politics; this election was due to the Mardakan's eldest member dying of a frostbit heart after being unsuccessful in turning a frost beast against its current giant owner.

Up til the most recent cycle secrecy of the tribe has been a cornerstone of the tribes relation to others, but this election of the Fardi has brought up debate on the subject; the forest father is still expected to keep the tribe secret, as all but the Fardi elders wished it so.

Familial Relations
The Mardakan are generally on good terms with all of the other families, although their current lack of participation in the elders quarrel, as well as the Fardi wishing to break the secrecy has brought them to not be in their favor.

The Komani have always supported the Mardakan, especially in their wish of secrecy, leading them to share the view of distrust towards the Fardi.

The Guni do not always agree with themselves, being both for the Mardakan leadership, while also supporting the Metival, whom support the Fardi claim, leaving the Guni to stay neutral on most matters, although the current repsentatives voted to keep the secrecy intact.

The Kruitak, being the fourth family, have a certain distrust of the original families, although they value their opinions, and will generally go to the Guni when in need of additional wisdom as they believe neutrality to be the position to be valued in a forest father; the Kruitak also are in good terms with the Metival due to the shared belief that the forest father should not be fighting alone.

The Metival believe that the forest father should be accompanied by others to aid in the protection of the forests, a view not held by the original families nor the Fardi, making them closest to the Kruitak, although also feeling indebted to the Komani, as they were the ones who brought up their inclusion into the tribe to the elders.

The Fardi are strong, although small in number, and do not share the same view as the original families, making them almost outcasts within the Gnashi; the other families recognised the Fardi's strength and believed them to be an asset in that regard, making them close to, yet untring of, all the other families.